PROVO, Utah – Incoming freshman Kihei Akina shot a three-day total of 17-under to win the 99th Utah Open at Riverside Country Club on Sunday.
Akina was one of 18 BYU players, past or present, participating in the event this weekend, which consisted of six current and 12 former Cougars.
The freshman Akina carded rounds of 66-65-68–199 in the 54-hole tournament, which makes him the only player to total less than 200 strokes of those who made the cut. After day one, the 69th-ranked amateur golfer in the world sat in fourth place with six birdies and an eagle.
The 19-year-old one-upped himself in the second round after once again tallying six birdies and an eagle with one less bogey for the day. The true freshman never relinquished the lead on Sunday as he matched his birdie total with six in the final round to secure his first Utah Open title. Akina's 17-under total included a 9-under-par mark on par-4s, ranking as the best score out of all players in the field. The champion also had the most total holes under par with 18 birdies and two eagles.
Akina beat out four Cougar alumni who each finished in the top 10. A total of 14 BYU players made the 36-hole cut to play in Sunday's final round.
Cole Ogden, a 33-year-old amateur and BYU alum, finished in a three-way tie for second this weekend. He saw five birdies and two eagles go down for a 65 on Friday and carded four birdies and an eagle for a 67 on Saturday. On day three, Ogden was bogey-free with birdies on four, six and 14 for a 3-under 69 to finish two strokes back of Akina. Ogden led the field in eagles with three.
Recent graduate Zac Jones tied for sixth at Riverside. Eight birdies in round one helped Jones shoot 67. After shooting a 2-under 70 in round two with five birdies, the 2022 Utah State Amateur champion shot 67 with six birdies on Sunday, to put him at 12-under par for the event.
Tied with Jones was former two-time All-American honorable mention, Carson Lundell. Five birdies on each of the first two days and four birdies and an eagle on Sunday led to rounds of 70-67-67–204 for a sixth-place finish at the Utah Open.
In a tie for 10th, the final Cougar in the top-10, Cole Ponich, ended at 11-under after Sunday's round. The 2024 Utah State Amateur champion made five birdies in each of the first two rounds while adding an eagle on Saturday. Ponich carded seven birdies in round three on the way to shooting 70-68-67–205.
The rest of current and former Cougars that made the top-60 were senior Simon Kwon, who was the leader after day one, 2023 Utah Open champion and current PGA Tour player Zac Blair, 2023 graduate David Timmins, junior Peter Kim, 1987 alumnus Steve Schneiter, freshman Parker Bunn, 2014 graduate Justin Keiley, 2015 UGA Player of the Year Rhett Rasmussen and Clay Ogden, older brother of Cole Ogden and Dalton Stanger.
The rest of the Cougars that competed, but missed the cut, were sophomore Jackson Mauss, senior Tyson Shelley, 2021 BYU alumnus Kelton Hirsch, and 1981 national champion Dave DeSantis.